With the new year 2022 just days away, time is quickly running out for the national and local authorities in achieving its goal of having fifty-four million people all over the Philippines fully vaccinated (2 doses of most brands of COVID-19 vaccines). According to a recent article by the Philippine News Agency (PNA), around seven million Filipinos need to be fully vaccinated within the year to hit the target.
To put things in perspective, posted below is the excerpt from the PNA report. Some parts in boldface…
The Philippines still needs to fully vaccinate seven million Filipinos by the end of the month to meet its target of 54 million and achieve population protection this year.
Based on the data from the national Covid-19 vaccination dashboard, the Philippines, as of Saturday, has administered a total of 105,329,784 doses of vaccines nationwide, with 47,109,449 Filipinos now fully protected and 1,365,827 others have received their booster shots.
Due to the onslaught of Typhoon Odette, the country’s average daily vaccination rate has decreased to 675,567 doses.
Despite a few setbacks on the vaccination program, Presidential Adviser on Covid-19 response Vivencio Dizon earlier said the government remains optimistic that the targeted 54 million fully vaccinated is still achievable with more deliveries of the single-dose Janssen Covid-19 vaccine.
“Iyong ating mga areas na tinamaan ng bagyo, siyempre hindi natin mai-expect na magbakuna sila dahil nga busy sila sa relief at sa rehabilitation. Pero iyong mga ibang lugar naman na hindi tinamaan ng ‘Odette’ ay talagang dapat paigtingin natin at tuluy-tuloy lang tayo (Those areas hit by the typhoon, of course, we cannot expect that they could still vaccinate because they are busy with relief and rehabilitation. But we will continue in areas that are not affected by ‘Odette’),” he said in a previous interview.
Dizon said the government would further ramp up the administration of second doses and single-shot Janssen vaccines, particularly in areas that have not been affected by the typhoon.
“Ang priority nation, lahat ng second dose; at pina-prioritize din natin iyong Janssen vaccines natin dahil isang bakuna lang, isang dose lang ay fully vaccinated na ang ating mga kababayan (All the second doses are our priority, and we are also prioritizing the Janssen vaccine because it is just one injection – in only one dose, our countrymen will be full vaccinated),” he said.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What can you say about this latest development? Do you believe that the national government and local government units (LGUs) can all get their act together to have as many people fully vaccinated even as they are working on vaccinating the newcomers (for first dose) and minors (aged 12 to 17) and injecting the fully vaccinated patients with booster shots soon? Is your LGU moving sluggishly with the local vaccination operations?
You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.
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